


What Friends Are For

by RainCS



Category: The Two Princes (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Jecily - Freeform, M/M, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, Post-Canon, Rumir, amir is so in love i love it, cecily being badass, slightly angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 17:50:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19750744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainCS/pseuds/RainCS
Summary: Rupert and Cecily want a picnic with their significant others, and Amir is... not excited about it.Gifting to OfTheFlamingHeart because they worked so hard to unite this fandom and deserves much love for it!!!





	What Friends Are For

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PrinxOfTheFlamingHeart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinxOfTheFlamingHeart/gifts).



Amir really did not want to do this.

Socializing had never been his favorite thing. Out of all the lessons his mother taught him about being a good, strong, responsible leader, none of them had ever involved making friends. 

Alliances, maybe, but never friends.

And out of everyone on the whole kingdom, Rupert wanted him to socialize with Cecily. Joan was one thing – she was strong, stoic, an outstanding knight and a respectable person. But Cecily? The girl who used to fawn all over Rupert and couldn’t utter a single sentence without the word “like.” She was the one Rupert wanted them to spend their time with? Amir shook his head as he folded up his sleeves to look a little more casual.

Honestly, he couldn’t imagine what either Joan or Rupert saw in that girl.

“Can you maybe not look like you’re about to re-enter the Hollow?”

Rupert snuck up from behind Amir, placing his hand gently on the small of his back. Even that little touch was enough to have Amir smiling despite himself, his body tingling with joy just knowing Rupert was near.

“I do not look like that,” Amir argued. “I look like my fiancé blackmailed me into a double date.”

“Blackmailed?” Rupert sputtered. “Isn’t that a little dramatic?”

“You said it was dinner with Joan and Cecily, or dinner with your mother.”

“Point taken. Now let’s go, we don’t want to be late.”

Rupert let his hand slide from Amir’s back, around his side and to his hand, which he took lovingly but firmly and pulled Amir with him towards the courtyard. Because of course they couldn’t just sit at a table with knives and forks; they had to go on a picnic and get crumbs everywhere and be infested by ants so Amir had to fix everything while Cecily shrieked and –

“Hi, Cecily!” Rupert spotted his friend waiting the courtyard and let go of Amir to give her a hug. For some reason Amir expected her to be all dressed up in a fancy gown, but she was wearing a light tunic and her curly dark hair was swept up in a messy bun. She looked like she came straight from practice with Joan, which was probably the case.  
“Where’s your knight in shining armor?”

“De-armoring.” Cecily giggled. “I think she’s a little nervous, she, like, never takes this long after practice.”

“What would Joan have to be nervous about?” Amir asked, and instantly regretted it. He didn’t want to pry, the words just slipped out. He didn’t want Rupert to think he was being rude to his friend.

“I don’t know, like, hanging out all casual with the future kings? I told her it’s silly, you’re just people, but whatcha gonna do? She’ll chill when there’s food.”  
She didn’t sound offended, but it was hard to tell. Amir found people hard enough to read as it was. Cecily was even more confusing than most.

Rupert and Cecily started chatting easily while they waited for Joan. Amir lingered awkwardly next to Rupert. Sensing his discomfort, Rupert took Amir’s hand and squeezed it lightly without skipping a beat in the conversation.

How did he do that? Seem so focused on his friend and yet be perceptive enough to realize exactly what Amir needed from him? And he just gave it without a second thought. Rupert was always doing that, giving of himself whenever someone needed it. He thought he wasn’t much of a prince because he couldn’t do all the things Amir could do. Rupert cared more than anyone Amir knew, though, and that was the most regal thing he could think of.

“Joan!” Cecily shrieked and flung her arms around the knight, who threw the princes a slightly embarrassed look but wrapped her arms lovingly around Cecily anyway, breathing in her hair and smiling at the embrace.

“What are we all standing around here for?” Joan joked merrily. Amir thought she didn’t sound nervous at all. “Don’t we have a picnic to get to?”

*

“Cecily, this is amazing!” Rupert seemed like he might choke, talking between mouthfuls of blackberry tart. “Did you seriously make this?”

“I told you I could bake!” Cecily stuck her tongue out at her future king. “And you totally thought I was, like, lying or something.”

“A girl who can bake. Bet you’re living the dream, Joan.”

Joan flushed at Rupert’s words, but the look she gave Cecily seemed to indicate he was entirely correct. Joan was living her dream.

Good for Joan, Amir thought. She deserves it. 

He looked at Rupert, sitting next to him on the woolly blanket and gobbling up the last piece of tart – Amir’s piece, incidentally, but he was happy to let Rupert have it. Good thing they’d left Porridge and Fitzroy at home, or there would have been a battle to the death over that tart.

“You’re going to give yourself a stomach ache,” he commented slyly, earning a playful smile from Rupert that made Amir’s stomach twist in the best way. No one else could do that to him with just one smile. No one else could do that to him at all, really. He made himself look away, worried he might lose control and kiss Rupert right here and not be able to stop.

“So, uhm,” Amir cleared his throat. “How is training going?” He might as well try to make an effort with Cecily, even if her loud voice made his ears hurt.  
“It’s awesome!” she exclaimed in an unnecessarily high volume. “I’ve totally stopped accidentally injuring people and some of the technique is finally sticking, and it feels amazing to, like, feel like I’ve got control, you know? Like, no one can stop me, you know? And besides, Joan is so hot when she goes full-on teacher and won’t let me flirt with her, it’s totally badass and I love it.”

“Your flirting is distracting,” Joan said, smiling shyly. “We can’t lose focus when we’re handling weaponry. Consider it the number one rule.”

“Good rule,” Amir agreed, though he couldn’t imagine Cecily ever remaining focused for very long. She was a lot like Rupert in that way, but Amir didn’t find her nearly as endearing.

“If you’d like to stop by our sessions sometime, I would gladly welcome your input, my lo- I mean, Amir,” Joan said, opting out of formality with a glare from Cecily. “Your skill with a sword is legendary.”

“I’m sure you have it handled,” Amir said. “You’re flattering, but we all know who the best swordsperson in the Heartland is, and she’s sitting right here.”  
Joan smiled at the compliment, and Cecily beamed with pride, taking Joan’s hand and kissing it, which made Joan blush again and laugh nervously. The knight wasn’t much more comfortable with attention than Amir himself.

“Well, you’re both still welcome to come observe and comment,” Joan insisted. “If nothing else, it will be good for morale.”

“Not a bad idea,” Amir agreed. “How about we make time for it tomorrow afternoon?”

The question was directed at Rupert, but it took him a second to register that Amir was looking at him, waiting for a response.

“Oh, me?” He chuckled. It was that nervous chuckle he did when there was something he was thinking that he didn’t want anyone to ask him about, so he tried to mask it with humor. It probably worked on his mother, but not on Amir.

“Yes, you,” Amir said. “The other future king?”

“You sure you want me to come observe the knights-in-training?” Rupert was still wearing that stupid, false grin. Amir hated that grin; he wanted the real thing. “What would I do? Compliment the ones with excellent bad grip and terrible balance? Sword fighting is really more your thing. All fighting is, in fact, more your thing.”

Amir felt a cold chill run down his back with every word out of Rupert’s mouth. He knew where this was going, and he wished he could say the right thing to stop it.

“You handled yourself pretty good in the Hollow.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

“Oh, please!” Finally the false grin and joking attitude slipped, but it was replaced by a look and a tone Amir hated even more. “Stop saying that! You know damn well that if you had used even an ounce of actual effort, I would have been dead in three seconds or less. The only reason I’m still alive is because you wouldn’t kill me and you dragged out the fight. I couldn’t take you on for real. I couldn’t take anyone on for real. The kingdom is lucky I even know which end of the sword to hold! If we didn’t have you, this kingdom would be as good as screwed and we all know it.”

There it was. Amir’s heart shattered into a million pieces like it always did when Rupert got like this, and he knew his heart wouldn’t heal until he saw Rupert’s genuine smile again, the one that made his stomach tingle and his heart burst with love. But he didn’t know how to summon it. Sometimes it worked when Amir just held him in his arms as they sat in silence, and eventually Rupert’s arms would work their way around his neck and Amir would be blessed with a soft kiss and a murmured thank you.

But now they weren’t in the safe isolation of their home. They were outside, with witnesses. Amir’s entire being wanted to reach out and wrap around Rupert, but the look Rupert gave him was so guilt-ridden and ashamed that all Amir could bring himself to do was take Rupert’s hand and squeeze it, squeeze it tight so the bones might pop but he didn’t care. Rupert, the boy he loved, was going to know that Amir was there for him, even if it did end up costing them both body parts.

“Hey!” The tone was so far from shrill that it took Amir a moment to realize it was Cecily who had spoken. Both princes turned to her, and Amir nearly cowered behind his fiancé at the anger in the normally merry girl’s eyes.

“I’m gonna need you to listen to me and listen good, Prince Rupert!” She hoisted herself up so she was sort of standing on her knees, for once taller than Rupert where he remained on the blanket beside Amir. Cecily leaned forward over the picnic basket and glared into Rupert’s eyes.

“No one – freaking NO ONE – talks about my friend like that. Do you hear me? Do you? Because my friend is freaking fantastic, he is beyond amazing, he has the most massive heart, big enough to hold two entire kingdoms inside, plus everything and everyone in them and still have enough left over to snag the most handsome soldier boy either of us have ever seen. And he’s got the most awesome brain! Like, he can think of ideas that would never even occur to the rest of us, like manipulating his way out of being eaten by pretending to be a fan of his kidnapper!”

Cecily actually reached out and for a moment Amir was certain she was going to slap Rupert in the face, but instead she placed her hand on his cheek in a gentle way that didn’t match the tone in her voice, but it matched the fierce protectiveness in her eyes.

“My friend is kind and loving and brilliant, and if I ever hear anyone in this whole kingdom say anything like that about him again or even hint that he might not turn out to be, like, the greatest king ever, that someone is going to freaking wish that the forest ate us all up.” 

Amir was stunned. He could see Joan sitting behind Cecily with the same expression, though admittedly she looked less surprised by the outburst. And Rupert? His eyes were watery but nothing spilled over. He was shaking slightly as he stared at his friend.

Cecily sat back down and took Joan’s hand automatically.

“Good,” she said, her voice returning to normal. “Glad we got that settled. Now will you, like, give that boyfriend of yours a hug and let him comfort you? He looks like he’s about to, like, die, when you say stuff like that.”

Rupert shook himself out of the trance and turned to Amir, and Amir felt as if Rupert noticed him for the first time, really noticed how much it hurt Amir to see the man he loved in so much pain. Rupert really had no idea how loved he was, Amir thought, until Cecily pointed it out. 

Rupert flung himself at Amir, and Amir’s arms wrapped around him, right and steady and never wanting to let go. He let Rupert bury his face against his neck as the tears finally spilled.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into Amir’s skin, his voice breaking slightly.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Amir murmured into Rupert’s hair. “It’s always going to be okay.”

They sat like that for a while. Amir heard Joan and Cecily politely chat amongst themselves to avoid any awkward silences, and once Rupert’s breathing calmed and the tears stopped, Amir slid his hand up and down Rupert’s back and leaned down to whisper in his ears.

“Hey, Rupert?”

“What?” he whispered back.

“Your friend is pretty great. I’m happy you – I’m happy we have Cecily in our lives.”

Rupert slowly pulled away to gaze up at Amir, and there was that grin, the grin that both stopped and started his heart and made the world seem impossibly bright and beautiful and alive.

Rupert and his grin moved between Amir, Cecily and Joan. The two were paying attention again, and beaming at Rupert’s return to himself. 

“Yeah,” Rupert said. “I’m happy we all have each other.”


End file.
